An adhesive tape is disclosed in European Patent No. 1 074 595 B1 in which the number of warp threads per cm is 30 to 50, width-based linear density is less than 2500 dtex/cm and number of weft threads is 18 to 27. The warp threads in this adhesive tape are fixed by the adhesive coating relative to the weft threads, and hence the breaking strength in the transverse direction is less than 10 N. Such an adhesive tape does have sufficient transverse tearability by hand. Such adhesive tape also has the disadvantage that, owing to a low sett for the woven fabric, the weft threads tend to slip, which is why the warp threads and the weft threads have to be fixed relative to each other by the adhesive coating, causing the flexibility to suffer. Furthermore, only an inferior abrasion resistance is ensured, viz., equivalent to LV 312 abrasion class A or B. LV 312 (current version: LV 312-1), which is entitled: Adhesive Tapes for Cable Sets in Automobiles”, is a testing directive consolidated by the firms Audi AG, BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, and Volkswagen AG. Not only the abrasion resistance, but also other parameters like flagging, dielectric strength, and transverse tearability are determined in accordance with this directive. LV 312 abrasion classes are defined according to Table 1.
TABLE 1Abrasion ClassRequirement on 5 mm MandrelA - no abrasion resistance<100strokesB - low abrasion resistance100-499strokesC - medium abrasion resistance500-999strokesD - high abrasion resistance1000-4999strokesE - very high abrasion resistance≧5000-14 999strokesF - extremely high abrasion resistance≧15 000strokes
European Patent Publication No. 1 990 393 A1 discloses an adhesive tape consisting of a woven-fabric backing wherein the number of warp threads is 30 to 50, the width-based linear density of the warp threads is 2950 dtex/cm, and the linear density of the weft threads per unit length of the tape is 5200 dtex/cm. This tape requires additional fixation of the warp and weft threads relative to each other. Such an adhesive tape is likewise readily hand-tearable, but has only a low abrasion resistance, viz., LV 312 class A.
Accordingly, there exists a desire to provide an improved woven-fabric adhesive tape such that it exhibits good compound strength without additional fixation measures for the warp and weft threads and hence good manual tearability and also with an abrasion resistance corresponding to LV 312 classes C or D.